. . . Only a Mother Can Love

These “teenage” Adelie penguin chicks are in transition. About 5 weeks old, they are in the awkward stage between a chick and an adult. Before they can be totally on their own, being able to swim to get their own food, they must shed the thick downy feathers of their youth and grow the sturdy waterproof feathers of adulthood. Some have started in the front, some have started on their backs, Some start around their heads, and other on their wings. The adults too will molt, but it is not time for that yet. They still must bring food to the chicks and get them to fledging weight before their job is done. Then they will find an ice floe to sit on for a few days and shed their feathers for a new set in preparation for winter.

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This is Ross Island, a volcanic island embedded in the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Adelie penguins are found all around Antarctica, but we will be filming the documentary at the breeding colonies shown...more

This is a view of the Adelie penguin breeding colony at Cape Royds in Antarctica. In the foreground you see Shackleton’s hut. Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team of explorers tried and failed to cross the...more

We are at Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarctica, a penguin breeding colony of several thousand Adelie penguins. This female is 8 years old and has been a successful breeder in the past. She was first seen...more

Cape Royds penguin breeding colony is in the shadow of Mt Erebus, one of three volcanoes on Ross Island and the only active one. Antarctica Explorer James Clark Ross named two of the volcanoes after his...more

At long last the moment we have been waiting for, the first Adelie chick of the season. We have been scanning nest sites for broken egg shells, evidence that a chick has hatched. On Dec 12, 2006 we sighted...more

Chicks are hatching everyday now and the colony is bubbling with new life. The air is filled with the songs of penguins returning from feeding and the growls of predatory Skua birds as they circle the...more

This is a device which identifies and weighs the parents as they move from the nest to the ocean to feed, and back. An electronic identification tag (like the ones in pets and race horses) has been inserted...more